Friday, February 14, 2020

PERFORMANCE AND CULTURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

PERFORMANCE AND CULTURE - Essay Example Brecht invented and introduced the use of alienation effects in the theatre and plays. He is among the pioneer artist to develop a form of drama that has been called epic theatre in which ideas and didactic lessons are supposed to be more important and attention catching as compared with the other features and elements of the play (Frederic, 1992). Bertolt Brecht used his invented technique in many plays to attain his aim to encouraging people to think about the end, lesson and message rather focusing upon the emotions and characters. The following essay aim to discuss the way Brecht changed the traditional style in which the plays were written and staged. In this regard, the essay describes the efforts of Brecht in innovating new technique and style for the theatre and its use in his dramas. It has been unveiled that in the beginning Brecht was not completely successful to practice the alienation technique for gaining the desired results however; as his work grew mature he proved th e significance of the technique in form of several successful epic plays (Frederic, 1992). Bertolt Brecht and modernist theatre – Alienation technique and epic plays Bertolt Brecht held the firm belief that the actors should always strive to produce alienation effects in the drama in order to discard the traditional style of persuading the audiences with their characters in the play. Rather putting the audience into a trance the actors should go into the trace their selves so that they can present natural and lively performance in front of the audience. He believes that the way of speaking and the movements of the artists must be convincing and effective enough that audience can feel the real message behind the play rather getting lost in the fabrication of dialogues delivery. His dramas are considered as most importance and original work pieces in the European drama and he has widely recognized as most influential and prominent European materialist writer of the 20th century (Weber, 1984). The theatre practice of the twentieth century was heavily influenced and developed from the contributions of Brecht to the theatrical production and dramaturgy. He spent several decades in experimenting and developing the theory and practice of his epic theatre and devoted lot of time and efforts to bring something new and useful in the process of play making. He was inspired from the ideas of early theorists Erwin Piscator and Vrevolod Mayerhold regarding the use of theatre for as platform for the propagation of the political ideas. He believes that drama and theatre are medium for the transmission of ideas and thoughts and the audience should not stop thinking when the drama ends but the drama should be meaningful enough that the audience could initiate the thinking process during and after watching the drama (Willett, 1977). Brecht wants to support re-functioning of theatre in to a social use rather becoming a source of entertainment. His concentrated efforts and research work around the topic have resulted in the evolution and popularity of Brechtian theories and techniques that were widely uses in the theatre and cinematic practice. In the early days of his career in theatre and play making Brecht was more interested in doing experiments with dada and expressionism. However, as he proceeds with his work he attained maturity and new ideas and within few years he succeeded to develop a unique style of

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Argument - Essay Example Thus, the issue of awarding the capital punishment remains a highly controversial topic across the world. In the US many states award death penalty to offenders who commit premeditated homicide while some others do not have capital punishment. Killing a human being intentionally is a heinous crime and offenders who commit premeditated homicide need to be punished with capital punishment to deter others from engaging in such criminal activities. Criminal justice system awards punishment to the criminals with a view to prevent the recurrence of crimes. The society considers that every criminal offender needs to be awarded a punishment appropriate to the crime he or she commits. Thus, the advocates of death penalty contend that when capital punishment is awarded to a person who commits murder, â€Å"potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life† (The Death Penalty: Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty 1). Evidence also points to an a nalysis by the criminologist Isaac Ehrlich, which shows that â€Å"for every inmate who was executed, 7 lives were spared† as other perpetrators become deterred from committing similar crimes (1). This source concedes to the fact that studies relating to deterrence are sometimes â€Å"inconclusive† but it attributes this to the rare use of death penalty and the delay in its execution (1). Thus, it can be construed that death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime, which is a â€Å"practical justification† for the award of capital punishment (2). Criminal justice system relies on the basic tenet that every crime deserves a proportionate punishment for meeting the objectives of natural justice. Therefore, it appears natural that the person who perpetrates a premeditated murder of another person should be punished with death so that the victim and his or her family receive justice. Thus, the principle evolves that criminal justice must consider the extent of â€Å"h arm caused by the criminal† and award a punishment that is â€Å"proportionate† to the crime (Bidinotto 20). However, the opponents of capital punishment hold the view that punitive measures derive from the concept of vengeance and the â€Å"vindictive notion of an eye for an eye† (23). Refuting this theory, Bidinotto argues that justice does not rely on the notion of vengeance but, on the other hand, is â€Å"based on retribution† (23). He further contends that showing mercy to murderers amounts to â€Å"negation of simple justice† and will actually act as an encouragement for criminals as they can â€Å"gain more from crimes than any costs they will have to bear† (23). Thus, it becomes evident that a punishment proportionate to the crime is only moral and, therefore, the award of capital punishment to a murderer is justified. Deliberate murder is a crime that destabilizes the society and, therefore, when such crimes occur the community has a responsibility to respond. The death penalty can be considered as a â€Å"uniquely powerful† response to such a crime due to its being a â€Å"permanent† solution that cannot be â€Å"retracted or overturned† (Gelernter 26). Thus, by awarding death penalty to criminals who commit the offence of premeditated homicide, society makes a proclamation that such crimes are â€Å"absolutely evil and absolutely intolerable† (26). Therefore, it will dissuade criminals from engaging in such crimes and reduce murders. Though the opponents of death penalty are